Last week, we told you that Kaleida Health confirmed the closure of two Therapy Services clinics in North Tonawanda and Williamsville, as the area's largest healthcare network is anticipating cuts from the Trump administration.
For Lisa Lederhouse, the closure means her partner Patrick will lose access to the comprehensive care that has helped him recover from a devastating brain injury.
"It's going to put a huge void in a lot of people's lives," Lederhouse said.
Patrick has been receiving care from Buffalo Therapy Services in Williamsville after suffering from surgery complications earlier this year.
"In January of this year, went in for surgery and unfortunately had some complications," Lederhouse said. "Ended up spending 68 days in the hospital."
Patrick suffered an anoxic brain injury, a condition where the brain is deprived of oxygen for a prolonged period, leading to damage or death of brain cells.
"He's done amazing," Lederhouse said. "When I brought him home, he couldn't get out of bed on his own. He had a hard time feeding himself. He couldn't get dressed by himself."
The progress has been four months in the making. He receives speech therapy, occupational therapy and physical therapy all at this location.
"They're amazing. They're like our family now," she said.
WATCH: 'A huge void': Kaleida Health to close both therapy clinics, patients share devastation
Phil Stokes shared how appreciative he was of the clinic following a car crash that led to his traumatic brain injury in 2017.
"Working with their staff, they were very patient, they were compassionate and they were very good at keeping me on track, challenging me to push myself to continue to improve," Stokes said.
Republican Congressman Langworthy said people are making "business decisions" and using the Trump administration's Big Beautiful Bill as a "scapegoat".
"Feel for anyone who loses their job, but they clearly felt that those clinics weren't beneficial financially for Kaleida, and they made a business decision," Langworthy said. "Now they can blame the Big Beautiful Bill, but there's been zero impact to the Big Beautiful Bill in terms of dollars and cents."
The Williamsville location has informed patients that three other locations offer physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy. But for Lederhouse, this will be difficult.
"He's going to pay for speech out of his own pocket until they close here in November," she said. "After that, I'm not sure."
Other organizations that provide physical, occupational and speech therapy services:
Trilogy-Physical Therapy & the Medically Oriented Gym
1491 Sheridan Dr
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 871-1100
UBMD- 716 Health
111 North Maplemere Rd
Williamsville, NY 14221
(716) 204-3211
ECMC-Center for Rehabilitation Services (PT, OT, SLP)
462 Grider St
Buffalo, NY 14215
(716) 898-3225
